Limerence
by chlorineobsession
Summary: "Son, You need to realise that there's more to you than your disease. Your mother and I see that, Chouji and Ino see it. You need to too. You have to talk to people about things other than homework assignments and cloud formations." [shikatema] AU. She wanted something to run for. He needed someone to live for. *Don't own Naruto*
1. Chapter 1 The Art Of Being

**Prologue**

 **The Art of Being**

 **Limerence: (n) the state of being completely infatuated with someone.**

To say he liked clouds would be an understatement.

He loved them, if love were such a thing.

The way they simply existed.

He of course understood the innumerable amount of chemical reactions that took place to form a single wisp of cirrus cloud, but thinking about them was troublesome, so he simply stuck to his original thought:

They were simply there.

They caused no harm, did no wrong.

They were the saints of the natural world.

As he lay in the park, hands behind his head, eyes fixed on the clouds in the heavens, the group of runners passed.

They were his only distraction from his daily cloud gazing session.

He sighed and glared at them as they passed, the girl leading the group of twenty held her head high and was hardly even sweating, those bringing up the rear huffed loudly and were red in the face.

Though he was glaring at the group, deep down he envied them.

The way they could simply stand and run without worrying.

How they could just be.

With no fear of the pain.

The pain that he had to fear.

The group finally passed him and the last few who were a good bit further behind than the rest were out of sight at last.

He brought his eyes back to the clouds and watched them drift on overhead, peacefully.

He watched them be.

 _ **A/N: What do you think is going on?**_

 _ **This is a short-ish series that I really hope you'll enjoy, it's fairly close to my heart (cringey as that sounds) as I know someone with the condition that Shika has.**_

 _ **Please review/Fave/Follow!**_


	2. Chapter 2 Shattered Glass

**Shattered Glass**

"Shikamaru!"

He didn't answer.

His mother stormed into the room where he was calmly reading his physics textbook and crossed her arms.

"You have to stop this."

"Studying?"

She sighed and glared at him.

"You know what I'm talking about. You can't keep living like this!" She raised her arms as though the answers to all life's questions were written in the air. "Get a job at least! All you do is stay cooped up and sulk. It isn't healthy!"

Shikamaru turned his attention back to his textbook, reading about Snell's law and the refractive index of a diamond.

His mother sighed and left the room.

He refused to speak.

O

They were passing again.

The group.

The same girl led them, a good bit ahead of the rest.

Head held high, back straight.

He couldn't deny it was impressive.

Those at the end stared longingly at her back out of admiration - or maybe envy - as she ran, paced and steady.

He stared at her with both emotions whirling inside him.

 _If only..._

O

They didn't pass on Sundays, but a few of them still trained in the park, individually.

The girl from the front always passed twice, a few of the others appeared every once in a while.

Guess working hard pays off.

He sighed and ignored the longing feeling in the pit of his stomach.

O

"Talk to him, Shikaku, he's not okay."

"It's understandable that he feels down, Yoshino."

"That doesn't mean he should coop himself up in his room all day and not leave the house unless it's to look at the clouds. That kind of life style isn't healthy!"

A sigh sounded from the other side of the door, which Shikamaru hastily moved away from, taking out a textbook and looking at it intensely.

The door opened and his father walked in.

"Shikamaru..."

"That would be me."

"You're mother is worried."

"So I've noticed."

His father gave him a hard look before exhaling deeply and sinking down onto his son's bed.

"She isn't wrong, try to see things from her point of view. You're her only son and you're failing as a member of a social species. You aren't some fox, you're a deer. Deer move as a herd. You have a grand total of two real friends, which you only know thanks to me, and you hardly leave the house. They're the ones who visit you."

Shikamaru looked at his father, unsure of what to say.

"I know it's hard for you son, I really do, and I'm sorry that you have to live this way, but you need to realise that there's more to you then your disease. Your mother and I see that, Chouji and Ino see it. You need to too. You have to talk to people about things other than homework assignments and cloud formations."

When Shikamaru stayed silent, he sighed again.

"Get a job. It'll make you feel better."

"Troublesome..."

O

He had an address. An address for where he was to work.

His dad had given him the address along with an apologetic look.

"I'm sorry, they were the only local place that took part time work. You'll be doing administration as far as I'm aware."

Why would he apologise?

Shikamaru ran through the possibilities in his head and couldn't quite understand why.

Who was he going to work for?

He saw it. A little up ahead, a gate that opened into a long path with a small house at the end of it, surrounded by a vast expanse of lush grass.

He walked to the house and saw a small notice board outside it.

"Welcome To The Konoha Athletics Club Grounds"

The words struck him like broken glass.

He pushed his emotions aside and walked into the clubhouse.

O

"I got the job."

His mother beamed at him.

"Isn't that wonderful!"

A grunt sounded from Shikaku who was reading the newspaper in the sitting room.

"When do you start?"

"Tomorrow, half twelve. I'm in on Tuesdays and Thursdays after school and Saturday and Sunday from half twelve to three."

"It's good that you're going to go out. It'll do you the world of good."

"Sure."

Why was the world against him?

 _ **A/N: Any thoughts?**_

 _ **I haven't revealed Shikamaru's condition yet, but if you have any guesses, I'd love to hear them. It will become more evident in the next chapter.**_

 _ **I know that the chapters are fairly short at the moment, but they do get longer, I swear!**_

 _ **fanofthisfiction : Thanks so much for your review, I'm glad I portrayed what I was hoping to show, and I hope you'll like how the story continues.**_

 _ **ohud63 : Thankyooooo :3 I hope you like the chapter, bean!**_

 _ **ayingChan : Continue indeed, thanks for the review! I hope I don't disappoint o.O**_

 _ **Please follow/fave and review!**_

 _ **The reviews feed my shrivelling ego...**_

 _ **~Lee**_


	3. Chapter 3 To Feel Alive

**_To Feel Alive_**

Asuma Sarutobi looked up from his novel as Shikamaru walked in.

"Ah, Shikamaru, how are we feeling today?"

"Fine."

"Ready for your first day of work?"

Shikamaru nodded.

"I'll run you through what you have to do then. Nothing too complicated."

Asuma showed Shikamaru how to add a member to the club and gave him a tour of the office section of the house.

"That's about it. If you have any questions, feel free to ask them, most of the regulars know how to sign in every day, we're not too busy around this time anyways.

"There isn't training on Sundays, that's when we balance the accounts from the week, again, there isn't anything too hard about it."

"Okay, grand."

He sank down into a black plastic swivel chair behind the computer and gazed out the window.

What a dreary Saturday.

" _Hey_!"

He spun to face the source of the voice.

It was a club member, not one he recognised.

"I was _asking_ for the key?"

Shikamaru felt himself tense up at the person's arrogant tone, but pushed his exasperation aside.

"For the locker-room?"

"Well duh!". The girl had red hair and her hand was stuck to her hip, making Shikamaru think of an aggravated teapot.

He reached into one of the desk drawers and took out a key with a Rubik cube chain attached to it. He was about to hand it to the girl when it slipped from his grasp and fell to the table.

He swore and reached for it again.

 _"Shaky_." The girl commented. He glared at her and snatched up the key, instantly regretting the action as a sharp pain shot up his arm.

He shoved the key into her hands before he lost his grip again.

When the girl left, he looked at his hand which had started spasming. He held it tight with his other hand and winced in pain as he felt his wrist cramp.

The twitching subsided after a minute or so and he turned to face the door just in time for another person to walk in.

It was a girl again, and he recognised her as the one who was always ahead of the rest of the group.

She walked up to his desk and crossed her arms as she lay them on the smooth mahogany surface, leaning over to reach it.

"You're new." She commented, inspecting him with careful teal eyes.

"I've noticed."

"Not one for conversation?"

"Nope."

"Fair enough." She stood up and tightened one of her pigtails. (Who needs _four_ pigtails?!)

"Can I have the locker-room key then?"

"Someone's already gone ahead with it."

"Cool,"

And she was gone without another word.

A steady flow of people arrived and by two o'clock the entire group was ready, bar a few people who hadn't bothered showing up for training.

"Right," the coach called as he walked into the room, hardly even glancing in Shikamaru's direction.

"Any newbies?"

No one spoke.

"Good."

The coach ran through their training program for the day using a small handheld whiteboard.

"Temari will lead the warm ups and Tayuya will be in charge of the cool downs. We're going to do circuit one sprints, that's one hundred metres, and then we'll go for the park run. after that we'll do either high jump or long jump. Any preferences?"

A few mumbles resonated around the group but only a couple stood out.

"I'm hearing high jump. High jump it is."

He turned to Shikamaru.

"You're the new guy?"

Shikamaru nodded.

"Asuma talked you through your duties?"

"Only for the admin."

The coach nodded.

"I'm Iruka, I'll explain what you have to do during training sessions."

He turned back to the group which consisted of sixteen people.

"Sign yourselves in and I'll see you all outside in five. "

Shikamaru took out a sign in sheet from one of the cabinets and wrote the date at the top of it before placing it on the desk.

The runners came forward and wrote their names on the sheet along with the time.

They headed outside and Shikamaru went with them, locking the clubhouse door behind him.

"So, our new helper..."

"Shikamaru,"

"Right, our new helper Shikamaru is replacing Daimaru, lets give him a proper Ath Club welcome!"

A few greetings were mumbled around the group, though most people just rolled their eyes or continued the conversation they were having with the person beside them.

Iruka cleared his throat and continued.

"Um, can someone volunteer to give him a tour and run him through his duties?"

No one raised a hand so Iruka sighed and chose himself.

"Temari, you know this place better than I do. Give him the tour."

The blonde girl with the four pigtails looked offended.

"I can't do that, I'm doing warm ups."

"Someone else will do those."

Deciding not to argue, she walked over to Shikamaru and unceremoniously introduced herself.

"I'm Temari, welcome to hell."

She pointed to the clubhouse.

"That's the Den. We sign in there and that's where the changing rooms are. The grassy area is just called the Field. We do our warm ups there and our sprints and jumps are done behind the Den. We have tracks and shit there.

"Equipment is kept in the Den. Your job is admin and time keeping, you are also expected to organise coaches and lodgings for us if we have competitions. The rest of your admin work has probably been explained already."

He nodded.

"Iruka coaches us on Wednesdays and Saturdays, Gai coaches us on the other days. That's about it. If you have any questions, ask them now."

He had no questions.

O

The day wasn't tiring.

He timed the members as they sprinted with a bulky plastic stopwatch, and that was about it.

As they went for their long distance run through the park, he stayed at the Den and filed away the paperwork from the people who had signed in earlier on.

The job wasn't as troublesome as he had originally anticipated.

After the group returned from their park run, he helped Iruka to set up the vaults for the high jump and was sent back into the Den to get the large gym mat.

He found it easily enough, but the moment he laid his eyes on it, he knew he wasn't going to be able to bring it out.

Deciding against asking for help, he held a corner of it and began pulling it outside with much difficulty.

"Need some help, kid?"

He spun around to see an amused Temari smirking at him.

"Nah, I'm good."

"Looks like you're struggling."

"A man can't let a woman do his job."

Temari looked stunned for a moment, but her expression quickly turned to one of pure rage.

She stormed over to him, and for a second he thought she was going to hit him, but instead she grabbed the corner of the mat from his hand and hauled the entire thing over her head, storming out of the Den as though it were light as a feather.

She had to angle it slightly as she passed the doorway where she turned to him and glared.

"Don't call yourself a man when you can't even lift a ten kilo mattress, dick."

And with that she left him alone in the den with an aching shoulder and a bruised ego.

O

When the group finished the high jumps- which Temari excelled in- everyone helped with bringing the equipment in.

They then took to the showers and changing rooms, joking and chattering about their day of training.

Shikamaru stayed at the desk, leaning his head in his hands and listening to the sounds of laughter and running water and felt that aching again.

Not the physical pain he was regularly subjected to, but an aching sense of longing.

He longed to be like them.

Laughing, joking. Running.

"How was your first day?"

He noticed Iruka was standing before him.

"Good."

"Asuma was glad to find someone to admin part time, he gets sick of not doing much very easily. I'm glad you took the job. You did well."

He paused for a moment.

"Er, I heard about your condition, if I'd known earlier I wouldn't have made you gather the equipment or-"

"It's fine, there were no difficulties," Shikamaru cut him off.

Iruka nodded, but Shikamaru could tell he didn't believe him.

"I'll see you next week then, Shikamaru. Have fun with Gai."

Shikamaru headed home and only had to pause twice to calm the pains in his shoulder and ankle.

He felt alive.

* * *

 _ **A/N: Alrighty, I we have a winner! A guest who goes by a01 hath guesséd correctly :) (sorry, I sometimes speak in Shakespeare) hehe. Thank you for reading mate, well done on making the link. :p I'll consider ayingChan a close second for some good guesses.**_

 _ **Don't worry if you're completely lost, I honestly wrote this in the middle of the night. The only reason I've kept this going is because this is fairly important to me (Ugh, sappy) and I've already finished writing it. I'm only editing it now, I don't think this will be much more than ten chapters long, plus the chapters are fairly short.**_

 _ **Quality not quantity, amirite?**_

 _ **Thanks for all the support so far through follows/faves/review/pms and just reading!**_

 _ **For just one review a chapter, you can help feed the starving ego of an unsociable fanfic author. *puppy eyes***_

 _ **Heehee. Please continue the support! The story doth get better!**_


	4. Chapter 4 A Fascinated Freak

**_Fascinated Freak_**

"What did you get in the chemistry test?"

"Only 70%, you?"

"I failed."

"Oh... That sucks!"

"It was so hard!"

"I know!"

"I bet the freak got 100% again."

"He probably did. He's really smart.

"So what? Who even cares. It isn't like he's got any friends. He isn't street smart, only book smart."

"I guess..."

"He probably isn't even going to make it to graduation anyways. that's three years away."

"That's taking it a bit far, Toru..."

"That little freak thinks he can get his degree like the rest of us. What a retard."

"Shut up Toru, he can hear us!"

"He's meant to."

"Toru!"

They shut up as a group of fourth years walked past, bags heavy with books, exam stress etched upon their faces.

The girl in the middle of the group looked as though she'd just been crying.

"I'm not going to graduate if I only have a 2.2 average!"

"Matsuri, don't worry! You'll be fine. You can always get a tutor."

"They're so _expensive_ though..."

"Ask Temari to help you."

Shikamaru finally looked up from his textbook.

Toru and Tomoko's conversation hadn't bothered him, but the name Temari had actually managed to pique his interest.

It wasn't a common name.

"Ask me to help who with what?" came a harsh voice from a short distance away.

"Matsuri isn't doing so well with her exams. Would you be able to help her?"

"Yukata, if Matsuri needs help from me, she should know to ask for it herself."

Shikamaru hid his face amongst the pages of his book, pretending to be fascinated by Dalton's Atomic Theory.

Temari truly was troublesome.

"T-Temari, please help me, you're top of the class and I'm sure you're really busy, but even for just an hour a week, please tutor me!"

A low chuckle sounded from Temari.

"I suck at teaching, you know that right?"

Shikamaru glanced up to see the girl called Matsuri nodding at Temari, who still wore her hair in the four ponytails.

"Alright. My place on Monday, five till seven. Every second week. Sound good?"

Another nod.

Shikamaru kicked himself for not recognising the girl from the front as someone from his university.

Granted, thousands of students attended Konoha College, but he tended to remember names and faces fairly well.

The group of fourth years walked on, hardly paying any attention to the freshers.

He watched her with careful eyes as she walked away, back straight, head held high.

Apparently top of her class as well.

Oh how lucky she was.

 _ **A/N: A short one, sorry! I just feel as though I hadn't made it clear that they were in uni, does that make sense?**_

 _ **ALSO I WAS OFFERED A JOB! PRAISE ME MY FRIENDS, PRAISE MEEEEE. IDK if I'll accept the offer, but meh.**_

 _ **Onto the reviews!**_

 _ **ohud63~ Kyaah! Thank you for calling my writing style interesting, honestly idk how to describe the weird smush of existencial/coming of age/ metaphorical bleh that I throw onto my screen, but thank you for commenting on it mate! Also, Shikamaru's disease makes me sad too, especially since I know someone who suffers from MND, I'm trying my best to make this seem as authentic as i can.**_

 _ **a01~ hello smol! Please don't die, then you won't see how this fabulous fanfic ends, that would make me sad :(**_

 _ **That's all. I didn't get many reviews on the last one.**_

 _ **THANKYOU FOR ALL THE FOLLOWS AND FAVOURITES!**_

 _ **AND THE REVIEWS!**_

 _ **KEEP EM COMIN'**_

 _ **~Lee**_


	5. Chapter 5 Fair

_**Fair**_

"SUCH YOUTH! IT BRINGS JOY TO MY HEART!"

"That's Gai. Before you ask, yes. He's always like this. No, you never get used to it."

Shikamaru turned to see Temari seated in his swivel chair.

Offended, he crossed his arms.

"You're gonna have to find somewhere else to sit you know."

She smirked and kicked both of her feet up to rest them on the table.

"Nah, I'm good here."

He rolled his eyes and leaned against the wall.

"Whatever, troublesome."

"What was that?"

"AS YOU BLOSSOMING YOUTHS ARE AWARE, OUR FIRST COMPETITION OF THE SEASON WILL BE HELD IN TWO WEEKS TIME. I HOPE YOU ARE ALL LOOKING FORWARD TO IT!"

A few whoops and cheers echoed around the room.

"FOR GOOD LUCK, WE WILL TRAIN TWICE AS HARD AND TWICE AS LONG!"

There were groans.

"AS WE KNOW, PRESSURE TURNS CARBON INTO DIAMONDS!"

"Yeah," said Temari, " But it also compresses trash."

Gai ignored her as a few people chuckled.

"LET US TRAIN OUR YOUTHFUL SOULS!"

His first day of working with Gai was... Interesting.

He narrowly escaped being dragged into their training session and had to take Gai aside to explain his condition to him.

The man started tearing up and exclaiming that he was so "Youthfully brave" to be that way.

Shikamaru found himself laughing.

Having his disease didn't make him brave, living with it wasn't a choice.

After the training session, Temari approached him.

"What was that Gai was sobbing about earlier?" She asked.

"Youth probably."

"You know what I mean." She snapped.

He sighed.

"This doesn't concern you in the least. Stop talking to me."

She was clearly taken aback by what he'd said, but she kept her composure in check.

"Look kid, lighten up. I was only to have a conversation with you. Sheesh."

She stalked away from him

"Wait, Temari." He called. "Sorry, I'm a little snappy. It's just kinda personal. I don't like talking about it."

"Stop talking to me."

She shrugged, grinning over her shoulder at him.

"That's just not fair." Her grin was spreading to him now.

"And there it is." She turned to face him fully. "I was wondering what you looked like when you smiled."

He stopped smiling instantly.

"W-what?"

She was smiling widely at him now.

"I'm curious. I like it when people smile. Though I must admit, your resting bitch face is quite impressive."

Seeing her look at him like that made him think to himself that smiling wasn't half bad at all.

He quite liked her smile.

"OH YOUTHFUL AND BRAVE SHIKAMARU, I MUST ASK YOU TO ORGANISE A COACH FOR THE COMPETITION!"

He tore his gaze from Temari, looking instead at Gai, who was running towards him at full speed.

He gave Shikamaru the date and time for the competition.

As Shikamaru turned back to face Temari, she had already left the grounds.

Slightly disappointed, he shuffled back to the Den and went online to hire a coach.

Troublesome as it was, he was beginning to like his job.

 _ **A/N: Next update *woohoo* I'm updating every other day, has anyone noticed? I'm just so fab, praise meh.**_

 _ **Also, writing for Gai is SO MUCH FUN!**_

 _ **SHIKATEMA DOTH BE DEVELOPING!**_

 _ **Aaaanyways, the reviews!**_

 _ **whattadragg~ SAME HERE! I hate it when people use "retard" as an insult because it's a genuine intellectual disability, and shouldn't be used as an insult, and yeah. Toru is a massive prick, I based him off someone I used to go to school with. Thank you for the review, good human!**_

 _ **a01(guest)~Haha, you know it ;) *finger clicks* *shuffles backwards* *Trips over own feet in an attempt to be smooth***_

 _ **ohud63~ hey man how's life? I'm trying to keep most of the chapters within a specific time frame, so some will be shorter Than others:) as to how often I'm posting: Every second day bro, *finger clicks* *shuffles backwards * *avoids tripping over own feet* heehee, thanks for the review!**_

 _ **Okie, please let me know what you think! Criticism/ what you'd change is just as welcome as the nice stuff is :)**_

 _ **Please follow/fave/review! You know you want to!**_

 _ **~Lee**_


	6. Chapter 6 Disappointment

_**Disappointment**_

Competition day was finally upon them.

Shikamaru waited patiently inside the Den for the last of the members to arrive. Only seven people were selected to represent the club for the five sports, relay, sprint, long distance, high jump and long jump.

Temari had been chosen to take part in all of them, with a second Konohan representative by her side.

She was easily the best in the club, but Shikamaru wondered wether too much pressure was being put on her, not that he'd say it out loud. Temari would be offended if he expressed concerns over her well-being. Not that he was concerned, of course.

As the last team member arrived, Asuma, Iruka and Gai rounded the team and Shikamaru up and led them to the coach that was waiting for them.

Soon, they were on the road and headed to the national athletics stadium.

"ALRIGHTY!" Called Iruka, in a desperate attempt to get everyone's attention.

"This is only the heats, if we want to make it to the semi's we have to win at least three of the sports, or come in third and second place in three of them. Does that make sense?"

The team nodded.

"Good. High jump is first. We're third up, I want you to go first, Tenten, and then Temari can go second. After that it's relay, Temari can go first there, Hana can go second, our sub can be Tayuya."

More nods went around the bus.

"Great. Long jump is the same as high jump, Tenten, Temari, except we're up fifth. Then we have long distance. Tayuya, you're sub, Mai and Temari are mains. For the sprints, we have Temari and Yuu at 100m and Temari and Teru at 200m. Have I made myself clear?!"

More nods.

"Great, lets do this!"

O

The stadium was immense.

It wasn't full, only the first of five tiers were being used, but it was still impressive to see.

As the team went to the changing rooms, Shikamaru sat outside with the coaches and head admin, Asuma.

"Looking forward to this?" Asuma asked him.

"Yeah, I've never been to any sporting event before," Shikamaru admitted.

"It's great fun, I promise. Temari really is something else."

"Yeah..." Shikamaru said before he could stop himself, blushing once the words left his mouth.

Asuma chuckled and almost clapped him on the back before thinking the better of it and simply placing a hand on his shoulder.

"If I were Gai, I'd say something about youth, but I'll spare you the trauma."

Shikamaru found himself laughing at the older man's statement.

"I was speaking of her athletic abilities, Asuma. Nothing more."

Asuma gave him a knowing smile but said no more.

The team filed out of the changing rooms wearing khaki jersey shorts and dark grey tank tops. A few of them wore the club hoodie, a baggy burgundy pullover with a spiral shaped leaf on the back.

Temari's hair was in its signature four ponytails and she was hurriedly pinning her fringe back with small clips, which refused to stay in place. She gave up on her third attempt, letting her bangs fall in front of her eyes.

It was only after he heard Asuma clear his throat that Shikamaru realised he'd been staring at her.

He hastily gazed around the stadium and avoided looking anywhere near Temari's direction.

O

The high jumps truly were impressive. They were 1m50 and watching the competitors twist as they jumped, avoiding the bar, gave Shikamaru goosebumps.

The first pair to go managed to land on the bar twice, the second messed up only once.

When the Konoha Ath Club were up, the first girl to go-Tenten, was it?- cleared the jump with ease, not even coming close to it. Temari did almost as well, neither of them touched the bar at the top.

The next group did very well too, though one of their reps almost skimmed off the bar.

The final group knocked it over.

O

The relay was Shikamaru's favourite event of the day. Konoha came second after Hana tripped on her first lap and had to be replaced by the arrogant red head, Tayuya. Shikamaru was still bitter that she'd called him "Shaky" on his first day.

In spite of this, Temari sprinted quicker than Shikamaru had ever seen before, and got them back up to second place on her second round.

O

At long jump, Shikamaru watched as Tenten took fifteen strides before kicking off and landing and impressive six metres from the takeoff board.

Gai was close to tears as he practically sang of her impeccable technique.

Temari went soon after, Shikamaru counted a total of sixteen strides before taking off and landing exactly twelve centimetres further than Tenten had.

The commentator was practically screaming in excitement.

O

The long distance was next, two laps of the entire arena-a mile.

Temari was waiting at the starting block.

She had had a half hour pause since the long jump, and seemed perfectly fine, but Shikamaru was still concerned that she may have been overexerting herself.

In spite of his concerns, she still managed to come first place, though she was almost overtaken by the end.

Seeing someone so close to her seemed to give her an adrenaline boost and she accelerated and reached the end line ahead of them.

O

The last event was the sprints.

The hundred metre sprint had to be done twice as there was a false start from the other Konoha Ath rep, Yuu.

Temari came in second place and Yuu came third, impressive considering how many sports she'd just taken part in, but she looked disappointed.

She came third in the 250m.

As the results were being called out, Shikamaru congratulated the team members, but he couldn't find Temari.

"Hey, Shaky."

He turned to see Tayuya stalking over to him.

"Temari isn't well, go get a medic."

Shikamaru panicked, he knew she'd over done herself.

"Sure,"

He went to the paramedics who were at the event and told them that a Konoha rep was unwell, he pointed in Tayuya's direction, saying that she knew where she was.

Tayuya pointed to the bathrooms where they rushed to immediately. They came out a short while later carrying a pale Temari by wrapping her arm around their necks.

Gai burst into tears and ran up to them.

"WHY IS HER YOUTHFUL FACE SO PALE!?"

The medics reassured him that she was just faint, nothing too concerning.

She was helped down to the ground and rolled to her side into a recovery position, legs folded, head sideways.

After twenty minutes or so, she was allowed back to her feet and forced to eat a chocolate bar.

She shakily reassured the club members that she was fine, clearly annoyed by all the attention that was focussed on her.

Konoha ranked in joint first, and as Shikamaru looked at Temari, he realised that he'd never seen anyone look so disappointed in themselves.

 _ **A/N: Salutations, how is everyone? I really hope you guys like this story. I wrote it a while back and I was hesitant about posting it, but I'm really glad I did, I've gotten such positive feedback for it!**_

 _ **whattadragg~ Yes! I actually worked for a week during my midterm break in a centre for people with intellectual disabilities, and honestly I get really touchy on that topic, I'm so glad that people like you exist, they give me some hope in humanity! I hope you continue with the work you're doing, thank you very much for the review!**_

 _ **ayingChan~ Thank you for the review! Honestly, I think that you just summed up exactly what I hoped to portray. I really hope that you liked this chapter too!**_

 _ **king1012~ Friend! Hello! I'm really sorry to hear about your bro, I know from experience that it's hard knowing someone who has to go through pain in their daily lives. Not because they are "different" or any nonsense like that, but because it hurts to see someone you love hurt. I've never personally met someone with ALS, Shika in this story has PMA, but it stems from the same disease, and I really really really hope that if he does end up reading my shitty fanfic, there will be parts that he can relate to. The same foes to you, I tried to make this very personal and to show the affect that MND has on more than just the person who has it, you'll see that more clearly later on. Thank you so much for the review, I really hope that you'll enjoy the rest of this story.**_

 _ **Okie, that got really long, but yeah, thank you sosososososo much for all the reviews, I honestly can't express how happy I am, so I'll keep it at "thank you".**_

 _ **please follow/fave/review if you likeeee!**_

 _ **~Lee**_


	7. Chapter 7 Downpour

_**Downpour**_

On the coach back, Shikamaru sat beside Temari and couldn't help but talk to her.

"Are you feeling better?"

She nodded.

"You did really well, you were amazing."

She grunted and turned away from him.

"Really, you did really well I wa-"

"When you've finished lying, you can leave me alone."

Shikamaru was taken aback. What was she on about?

"Temari, you came first in almost all of the categories!"

"I came second and third in the sprints, and then I fainted. I'm so weak..."

"Temari, you came second and third out of _ten_ , it's amazing. You fainted because you did too much before hand."

"Look Shikamaru, you're new to the club so let me put this simply. I _don't_ take lightly to losing. I shouldn't have fainted, that shows how weak I am, I'll just train harder from now on."

Shikamaru gaped at her.

She was truly the most troublesome human being alive.

Rather than argue with her, he let her sulk in peace.

O

It was raining.

A literal downpour.

The club would have been closed, but it was a Sunday, so no one trained anyways.

Shikamaru had just finished compiling the weeks financial accounts and prepared to leave the grounds.

He was given the spare key to the Den, and he locked the door behind him, double checking that it was well closed.

He walked past the park and glanced briefly at the vast expanse of green grass that was saturated from the rainfall.

The park was empty bar one figure in the distance, running.

His jaw dropped.

Why the hell was Temari running in the rain?

He turned into the park, grumbling about her being troublesome.

"Temari!" He called, trying desperately to make himself heard over the rain. "TEMARI!"

The figure was too far away to be heard.

He accelerated the rate he was walking at, almost at a jogging pace.

His left leg was going numb, and his shoulder was in pain.

"TEMARI!"

The figure paused for a moment and turned its head slightly to the side, frowning.

She continued to run.

She was wearing headphones.

He cursed, she was going to do more than just catch a cold at this rate.

The path was slippery and it was getting dark. The strong winds definitely didn't help.

He felt his arm starting to twitch slightly and berated himself for getting stressed.

He made his way to the nearest bench and sat down, desperately trying to calm the nerves in his arm.

He didn't know how long he stayed like that, but after what felt like an eternity, he heard footsteps approaching him.

"Shikamaru?"

The footsteps slowed as the neared him and eventually came to a stop.

"Holy shit, are you okay?"

When he couldn't answer, he felt a strong pair of hands haul him into a standing position.

Temari brought his non-spasming arm around her shoulder and held him around the middle.

"Do you live far from here?" She asked in a steady tone, making her way towards the exit.

He shook his head.

"Okay. Tell me the way."

The pair struggled back to his house, Shikamaru jerked his head in a direction whenever they needed to turn and Temari wordlessly steered them until they arrived.

She frantically knocked on the front door.

"SHIKAMARU, YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN HOME HALF AN HOU-" Yoshino froze when she saw Temari holding Shikamaru on her doorstep.

She quickly took him from her and motioned her inside.

"SHIKAKU!"

He blurrily saw a confused Temari giving him a worried look, a panicked Yoshino and an uncharacteristically rushing Shikaku coming down the stairs before darkness seeped into his vision and tainted what he saw like ink on a sheet.

 ** _A/N: Hellooooo :)_**

 ** _Back with another chapter! This is the point in this fanfic where things get more... Dramatic?_**

 ** _I really hope you liked this chapter, I literally wrote it during rainy weather._**

 ** _I've started writing another fanfic, I'll be posting it at some point next year, once I've finished writing it cos it's fairly long._**

 ** _I didn't get much feedback on the last chapter :(_**

 ** _Ohud63~Thankyou for your lovely review m'dear. Don't worry, Shikatema moments doth be fast approaching;)_**

 ** _So yeah, this is the turning point, and the proper Shikatema moments are beyond this point._**

 ** _I'm posting this a few hours earlier than intended because I actually ended up editting this quicker than I thought I would._**

 ** _Please follow / fave / review!_**

 ** _~Lee_**


	8. Chapter 8 The Best Of It

_**The Best Of It**_

When he came to, he could hear his mother talking to someone in the kitchen.

"...anyone else."

"No, no, not at all..."

His father's voice joined in.

"Thank you very much, Temari, I don't know how we can repay you."

A nervous laugh.

"Not at all, mister Nara. It's the least I can a do, your son has shown me nothing but kindness during the few weeks I've known him."

His mother made an appreciative sound.

"I raised him to be better than his lazy good for nothing father, right?"

"Yes, Yoshino."

Temari laughed.

"You've done a great job, I must say miss Nara."

"Yoshino will do, Temari dear."

"Um, I should get going. Thank you very much for the tea though."

"Are you sure you wouldn't like to stay for dinner?"

"No, really, I have to make dinner myself, I don't want my family to starve," she laughed nervously.

"Well would you like to phone your parents to pick you up maybe? You can use our phone?"

"It's alright, really!"

"We can call you a taxi?"

"Really, miss Nara-"

" _Yoshino_ ," his mother interrupted .

"Yoshino," Temari corrected herself. "I'll be fine. Thank you so much for welcoming me, the rain has eased up a little, I'll run home. Thank you very...ver-ry"

She sneezed loudly.

"E-excuse me, I'll head home now."

"We can't let you do that! You have a _cold_!"

"Really, It's nothing I-"

"I'll call your parents, let me grab the phone."

Yoshino hurried into the sitting room where she saw her son seated and awake.

"SHIKAMARU, YOU FOOL, WHY DIDN'T YOU TAKE YOUR MEDICATION WITH YOU?!"

He cringed and looked away, not wanting to have to talk.

She sighed and took the phone from the cradle.

"Temari, what's your landline number?"

Temari walked into the sitting room looking slightly embarrassed.

"Really, it's not necessary." She mumbled, fidgeting with the sleeve of her hoodie.

"Temari, if you want to leave I need your parents to pick you up. It's dangerous out there and you're sick." Yoshino said, "or if you'd like to stay for dinner, to let them know where you are."

"I-I can't I have to make dinner at home. My brothers would probably starve if I don't, " she chuckled to herself before sneezing again.

"Why won't your mother cook for them?"

Temari blushed furiously and looked away.

"Eh- my mother passed away. It's fine, I'm twenty two, I can look after myself."

Yoshino softened and stood up to hold Temari in her arms.

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"It's fine, really." Temari was clearly embarrassed by the older woman's show of affection.

 _"Please_ stay for dinner. We owe you at least that much."

Temari sighed.

"Okay, can I please call my brothers?"

Yoshino smiled widely and handed her the phone.

"Fire away,"

Temari took the phone from her and thanked her before walking into the hall with it.

"Shikamaru, we had to tell her about your disease, she was worried."

Shikamaru groaned.

The last thing he wanted from Temari was pity, but the moment anyone found out about his motor neuron disease, they instantly treated him as though he were some bubble with crystal-thin emotional barriers.

"KANKURŌ, SHUT UP!"

Shikamaru and Yoshino both jumped at the sudden yell from Temari.

"There are spaghetti hoops in the cupboard, _live with it_."

Shikamaru snorted. Her brothers must have a hard time living with that one.

Temari walked back in shaking slightly.

"Sorry about that, my brother has a subhuman level of intellect."

Yoshino left the room to prepare dinner and insisted Temari stay with Shikamaru in the living room.

Once she left, Temari turned to Shikamaru and pointed at his face.

"Your hair looks better down."

She sat down beside him and eyed him curiously.

"Your parents told me, you know."

He nodded solemnly.

He knew what was going to happen next:

The ' I'm so sorry for ever being mean to you _ever_ you're so strong and brave' speech which he hated more than Chouji hated diets.

She opened her mouth to begin the speech and he braced himself.

"Don't expect me to treat you any differently. You're still a brat even if you're dying."

He was shocked.

No one had bluntly said anything like that to him before. Not even his own mother.

"Your parents told me about why you got the job too. Honestly, it's super selfish of you to act that way when they want you to make the most of your life, I mean you have a maximum of how many years left? Three? Four? Make the most of it. You have parents who love you, and I guarantee that if lives were for the taking they'd give you theirs without hesitating."

She sighed and leaned back on the couch, her shoulder brushing off his.

"Seriously, make the most of being able to appreciate them."

"Two."

"Hn?"

She raised an eyebrow at him.

"Probably two years."

She looked at him a bit more seriously before smiling.

"Better make the most of it then."

He found himself smiling at this strange, troublesome girl.

"I'll try."

She smiled widely at him.

It wasn't a grin or a smirk. It was a genuine smile that made him shiver.

"Good,"

And with that one conversation, he found himself falling.

Falling in love with the troublesome Temari.

 _ **A/N: Hola, how is everyone?**_

 _ **I'm posting this a day early to say thank you for all the feedback on the last update!**_

 _ **Sooooo the way idk if you guys agree with me, but I honestly feel as though the way Temari reacts to finding out about Shika's condition is actually kinda sweet in its own way.**_

 _ **Honestly, I hate it when people suddenly start acting differently towards someone just because they have an illness or a condition, it's a total pet hate of mine!**_

 _ **I got so many lovely reviews for the last chapter aww thank you guys!**_

 _ **I don't want to ramble on for too long, so I won't mention them all but anyways:**_

 _ **magxax~Welcome back to the land of the shipping :3 I'm sorry about the chapter lengths, I'm just trying to gauge how to structure the story in such a way that it's tense at the right moments, so some will be shorter and others longer, I really hope you'll continue to support it! Thanks for the review**_

 _ **ayingChan ~ heehee, does this chapter answer your question? Your reviews have all been so lovely, thank you so much, I honestly can't even begin to explain how happy I get when I see your name before a review, you put so much into what you write and you are so lovely, thankyou!**_

 _ **aaaaaand:**_

 _ **luluxxy~ this is the first chapter where it is outwardly said! Shikamaru has a type of motor Neuron disease. These diseases don't have a cure, unfortunately and I find that many of the charities that support this disease haven't got much support, I'm writing this story both to raise awareness and support for these charities and also for one of my close friends who was diagnosed with progressive muscular atrophy four years ago. Thankyou!**_

 _ **okie, I'll try get to other reviews again at some point, but thank you so much for the continued support!**_

 _ **I hope y'all like the story so far, I've finished editing, and there are about seventeen chapters in total (Unless you guys want an epilougue, which I have written in case you request one ;))**_

 _ **please follow fave and above all review!**_

 _ **~Lee**_


	9. Chapter 9 Average

**_Average_**

"MY DEAR YOUTHFUL BLOSSOMS! THE DATE FOR THE SEMI FINALS HAS BEEN SET!"

Cheers went around the group as Gai _literally_ back flipped into the Den wearing that ridiculous green leotard.

"IT SHOWS US THAT YOUTH HAS PREVAILED AND SHALL CONTINUE TO DO SO!"

He punched the air before spinning to give Shikamaru a thumbs up and smiling at him.

"PLEASE ORGANISE A COACH!"

Shikamaru nodded and got to it.

After their warm-ups he went outside to look after the timing for the runners and to help set up the equipment for long jump. A few members talked to him, but he hadn't made much of an effort to socialise with anyone much.

"Hey, Shikamaru?" He turned to see one of the members running towards him.

He was honestly surprised that everyone seemed to know his name.

"Yeah?"

"Um..." She awkwardly tucked a strand of her thin hair behind her ear. "Gai wanted me to ask you if you were willing to um, work Wednesdays as well?"

Shikamaru thought about it for a moment before nodding.

"Yeah, I can do that."

She nodded and began running back to Gai, glancing back at him twice as she ran and almost tripping over her own feet the second time.

He heard a low chuckle behind him.

"Looks like you've got yourself an _admirer_ , Shikamaru."

"Shut up."

Temari laughed and ruffled his hair.

"I'm messing with you kid. Not that she _hasn't_ been checking you out..."

He rolled his eyes and smirked at her.

"Is someone getting _jealous_?"

"As if, but she's been showing up to training a lot more than before... Suspiciously only on the days when you're working... Just sayin'"

He snickered.

"It must by my charisma."

"Mmm, I'm _sure_." Temari said sarcastically.

"Hey!" He laughed, pushing playfully her as hard as he dared risk(which wasn't hard at all).

"I'm messing with you kid. You're _very_ charismatic."

They looked at each other blankly for a split second before bursting into another bout of laughter.

"Screw you, Temari."

She looked at him with tears in her eyes.

She tried(and failed) to control her laughter as she choked out.

"You wish!"

Taken aback by her joke, he put on a face of mock offence.

"Excuse you, I have standards."

"Beggars can't be choosers, Shikamaru."

Damn she was good at this.

" _You_ would know."

They continued their exchange until Shikamaru was gasping for breath.

He'd over done himself and he had to head back into the Den to sit down.

Temari walked with him but left after a short moment.

She had a competition coming up after all.

He gazed out the window as they practiced their long jumps, paying a slight bit more attention to a certain blonde than the others.

His breathing had been getting a bit more restricted in the past weeks, but it hadn't had too big an effect on him until he'd been laughing with Temari.

O

She had taken to walking him home after training sessions, something which he complained about a lot.

"Normally it's the man who walks the woman home."

"I wouldn't trust you to walk me home. You're useless."

"Wow. Thanks."

In reality, he was glad to have company. More specifically, her company.

They got to his front door and Temari stood a bit further back, waiting for his mom to answer the door before leaving.

When Yoshino opened the door, she waved to Temari and asked if she wanted to join them for tea-an offer which Temari always politely refused.

After that, Temari would leave as always and Shikamaru would go up to his room to sleep, but that day was different.

"Really Temari, I insist!"

Temari shrugged.

"My brothers are away at the moment, so why not?"

She stepped into the house and took off her shoes.

"Hello, Mister Nara."

"Shikaku will do just fine,"

"SHIKAAAA!"

Shikamaru groaned. Ino was visiting.

"Hey man."

And Chouji too it would seem.

"Hey guys," he said as he walked into the sitting room to see the two of them sitting on the couch.

Ino was filing her already-perfect nails and Chouji was eating crisps.

"Hello Shikamaru's friends," Temari said as she walked in behind him.

Ino stared at her for a split second before grinning knowingly at the two of them.

"Hello pretty blonde lady who has apparently stolen my Shika's heart."

Temari stared at her and Shikamaru went bright red.

Chouji chuckled.

"She's only joking, that's how she greets Shikamaru's other friends."

Ino turned to him.

"What other friends?"

"Remember when he introduced us to Naruto?"

Ino smiled widely.

"Ohoho yes I do..."

Temari cleared her throat.

"Eh, well I'm Temari. We're not exactly um, friends. But yeah. We know each other."

"We know who you are. Yoshino loves you. She was literally talking about grandchildren before you got here."

Shikamaru wanted to die.

"Ino's just kidding, don't mind her."

Shikamaru introduced everyone properly before sinking down onto the sofa beside Chouji.

"How about we go out for bbq tonight?" Chouji suggested.

Ino squealed in delight and Shikamaru agreed.

"You should join us, Temari. We'll go after tea."

"Sure, why not?"

After an awkward cup of tea, the four of them headed out for dinner.

Shikamaru had never felt so normal in years.

 _ **A/N: I'm on my midterm break wooohoooo!**_

 _ **Idk about you guys, but I honestly love Ino and Chouji sosososo much, Ino bashing makes me sad, cos she's got to be such a lovely friend to Shika. Chouji is just adorable all the time, I love him :)**_

 _ **I also hope that you guys like the story so far!**_

 _ **A few people have sent me pm-s about how MND has affected you or your families, and it's honestly so lovely for you guys to have taken time out of your lives to praise my work and thank me for writing, even though I honestly deserve none, but thank you so much and I'm really glad that my story has impacted people in any way, that was my goal ;)**_

 _ **Also, this week was EB awareness week here in Ireland, so please support any EB charities if you can! EB is a very rare condition which is better known as the Butterfly disease, I won't talk much about it, but please research it if you're interested.**_

 _ **Okie, the reviews!**_

 _ **whattadragg~I really like you my friend! I'm glad you agree that Temari's reaction was good, I seriously hate it when people act differently towards someone after finding out about a condition they have, because it's still the same person, you just know them better. I'm not gonna suddenly start being careful around someone because of their favourite colour, so why should I change my attitude towards them if they have a disease? Thank you for the review, you are absolutely lovely!**_

 _ **a01 (guest)~ noooo please continue! This wasn't written to be a depressing story, don't worry- I'll let you in on a little secret *whispering * this is a story about happiness!**_

 _ **I would answer others, but I've already made this fairly long, so I'll hold off.**_

 _ **Thank you for all the reviews, I know I haven't gotten through all of them, but I don't want to make this too long. Idk if people even read this. Oops.**_

 _ **So yeah, please follow/ fave and leave a review!**_

 _ **~Lee**_


	10. Chapter 10 Be There

_**Be There**_

"No _way_!"

"Yup."

"I had no idea we went to the same university! What year are you in? What do you study?"

Shikamaru laughed.

"I'm studying general sciences at the moment. I'm trying to get through as much of the course as possible this year so that I can study atomic structure in more detail before..." He trailed off and didn't finish his thought. "I'm in first year." He said instead.

Temari nodded.

"I study politics and economics. It's great."

Ino piped in.

"I STUDY PSYCHOANALYSIS!" She exclaimed, raising her hand in the air excitedly as though she knew the answer to an unasked question.

Chouji put another piece of sizzling meat on the grill and smiled happily to himself.

"I started studying biology, but i got an apprenticeship at a bakery near where I live, so I dropped out."

He was still smiling as he looked up to see a sly grin from Ino.

"Yeah, Chouji. Isn't there something you want to tell Shikamaru?"

Chouji blushed deeply and stared at the grill.

"Well, um..."

"What is it, man?"

"You know the girl who owns the bakery?"

"Kara, or Karu or something? What about her?"

"It's Karui, and... Well... I ended up asking her out. I baked her a cake and all and... She smiled really widely and said yes!"

Shikamaru beamed at his best friend, he knew that Chouji always had a soft spot for his colleague, and he was glad that he'd finally worked up the courage to ask the girl out.

"Nawww," Ino giggled as she watched her friend blush. "How _cute_!"

She turned to Temari.

"How's _your l_ ove life doing, Temari?"

"Meh, guys normally piss me off by date number two." Temari shrugged casually, shooting a brief sidelong look in Shikamaru's direction and taking a piece of meat off the grill.

"I guess I'm just waiting for a nice guy to come along cos they like something about me, not just my body."

That was Ino's queue to start rambling on about her newest boyfriend, Sai.

O

 _"Again?"_

"Yup, I'm not letting you walk home alone."

"But your house is in the other direction, it's late."

She shrugged.

"Doesn't matter, I can't have you collapsing on the street, can I?"

He rolled his eyes.

"Troublesome woman, you'll be the death of me."

She chuckled and shoved her hands deep into her coat pockets, saying nothing.

When they arrived home, he opened the door and welcomed her in.

They had tea and Yoshino insisted afterwards that she stay the night.

"You're brothers aren't home," she argued.

Temari seemed shocked by Yoshino's insistence, but she gave in.

"Thanks, Yoshino."

While his mother prepared the guest room for Temari, the two of the played chess in the sitting room.

"You're good," he observed as she took his second tower.

"I'm aware."

He moved his knight.

"But not good enough." He smiled victoriously. "Check mate."

She stared at the board.

"How did you do that?"

"What?"

"That!" She pointed at the game they'd just played. "YOU MADE IT LOOK SO EASY!"

He laughed.

"Hours of playing with myself."

There was a pause before burst out laughing at what he'd said.

"KID. STOP. DON'T. SAY. THAT!"

He blushed when he realised the double meaning behind his words.

"No-I" He brought his palm to his face. "You know what I mean, Temari. Stop laughing!"

She was laughing hysterically at this point.

"Oh. My. God." She cried. " I don't think I've ever laughed this hard before!"

She held her side and was practically rolling on the floor.

"Please stop..." He was mortified.

She wiped a tear from the corner of her eye.

"Oh man. My eyes are probably bloodshot now." She glanced up at him and laughed again, more calmly.

"I'm sorry for laughing at your expense, but god that was _hilarious_."

Her laughter didn't fully die down until he'd won their second game.

"Aw," she pouted. "No fair!"

He started to stand up but suddenly felt dizzy, he slowly began stumbling, and Temari was by his side in a heartbeat.

"Don't worry, I've got you," she whispered as she helped him onto the sofa, seating herself beside him with her arm around him. "I've got you, Shikamaru."

And she said it once more-for luck.

"I've got you."

 _ **A/N: Alrighty, lotsa stuff happened in this chapter! I hope i got a good balance between humour drama and romance-or maybe I didn't, idk.**_

 _ **That's what I was aiming for anyways.**_

 _ **SilverMoon6817~Heehee, welcome to Limerence! I've actually seen your name pop up on a couple of my other works, I really hope you like this one too! Thank you so much for the review!**_

 _ **whattadragg~ kyaah thankyouuu! I like switching up gender roles just to annoy Shikamaru;) Let's start the "stop ino-bashing" movement, we can be partners in crime-fighting.**_

 _ **Mirin Hanashi~ Aww, you are so lovely, thank you so much for all the support m'dear, I hope you'll like the end of the story. Thanks again!**_

 _ **ohud63~ I love you my friend, thankyou! English isn't my first language, so getting praise for my writing is honestly the most rewarding thing, thank you for all the support!**_

 _ **Okie, imma stop, I kinda overflow with emotion when I read reviews, I'm not even kidding.**_

 _ **Thank you all so much for the reviews and follows and faves, I love you all!**_

 _ **Thank you for reading!**_

 _ **Please follow/ fave/ review!**_

 _ **~Lee**_


	11. Chapter 11 Something To Live For

_**Something To Live For**_

He remembered how his mother broke the day the doctor called for them.

"As we previously discussed, it is a motor neuron disease. More specifically, progressive muscular atrophy."

He remembered how his father's hard steady look crumbled into one of pure terror and misery the moment they left the consultation room.

He remembered how Chouji, small and cute at twelve years of age, gave him a confused look and how Ino burst into tears and threw her arms around him as though it were already his funeral.

He remembered how the kids in his class suddenly acted as though he were as delicate as a feather.

The teachers stopped nagging him when he fell asleep in class and the neighbours always asked how he was feeling when he passed on the street.

He remembered Temari's rant when she found out.

What he didn't remember was how _he_ felt about it.

And now, seven years on, he still didn't know how he felt.

"Temari?" He asked, turning his head to the side, looking at the blonde who was half asleep on his shoulder.

"Hm?" She looked up at him with her piercing teal gaze, dull in the soft light of the sitting room.

"Should I be scared of... Dying?"

She sat up a little, taking her hand away from where it was lying across his chest.

Frowning, she answered "I don't know."

So he took that as his answer before she lay back down on his shoulder.

"It depends," she said after a while. "On wether you have something to live for that you don't want to leave behind."

He brought his arm around her shoulder and thought about what she said.

What did he have to lose?

The smell of old books. The feeling of the wind at his hands. The sound of Ino's laughter and Chouji's chuckle. The taste of barbeque fresh from the grill. Clouds in the sky.

His mother's nagging, his father's insistence that he wasn't crazy for marrying her.

Gai's weird green leotard. _Well, maybe not_.

Asuma's kind voice and Iruka struggling to handle a group of young adults.

The smell of Temari's hair, the strength of her arms a they supported him. The sound of her voice teasing him. Her glare.

Her smile.

 _Her_.

He did have something to live for. And he was terrified to lose it.

* * *

 _ **A/N : Hiiiiii.**_

 _ **Another short one, I know!**_

 _ **I've had a really shitty day today, so editing this story made me feel a lil better I guess.**_

 _ **Aaanyways, onto the most fabulous reviews from my absolutely fabulous readers!**_

 _ **You guys are like little fireflies, lighting up my day with your support!(it sounds cringy, but also super cute, so imma call y'all my little fireflies :3)**_

 _ **silverMoon6817~ squeee thankyou for the review! I honestly didn't know whether I was taking it a bit too far with that joke, but I'm glad it made you laugh :) I hope your family isn't too concerned about your mental state though o.O**_

 _ **luluxxy~ ah, we must wait and see m'dear, no spoilers ;)**_

 _ **whattadragg~ yes! First plan of attack-spread the love for Ino like a plague through our fanfictions, that way peeps will grow to like her! Step two - ... I haven't thought that far ahead... Repeat step one! Haha, impatience Is a virtue in my eyes, I hope you'll enjoy what happens in the story! You won't have to wait too long, I swear!**_

 _ **Okiedokie, I've been posting every day, and I am ooper tired from editing, but I'll try to keep it up, so this story might be done and dusted before I go back to school, which would be a load off my mind.**_

 _ **Thank you for reading!**_

 _ **Please follow / fave / review!**_

 _ **~Lee**_


	12. Chapter 12 Gravity

**_Gravity_**

"WE MADE IT TO THE FINALS!"

"Well done!" He said with as much enthusiasm as he could choke out. His breathing was giving him hell, but he would do his best.

For her.

He moved aside to let her in.

"I wish you'd been there, Tenten broke a record on the high jump and I managed to come first at the one hundred metres. I came second at two-fifty though..."

They went to the sitting room and sat at the couch, talking about whatever came to mind.

"You should have been there," she said again.

"I would have come, really, but I couldn't miss the exam. I'm sorry."

She smiled sadly at him.

"Please come to the finals, Shikamaru. I'll win if you come. I'll come first at the two-fifty metres.". She sat up straight and looked him dead in the eye. "Shikamaru, I'll run for you."

If she had said this to him two months previously when he only knew her as the girl he had a crush on, he would have been flattered.

But he knew her now. She didn't do things for others. She wasn't selfish or anything, but she hated the idea of being tied down to something. To someone.

When she said that, he couldn't resist the urge to wrap his arms around her.

"I'll be there, Temari. I promise."

O

"Shikamaru!"

He looked behind him.

"Oh hi, Shiho."

The shy girl beamed at him.

"I was wondering if you were busy this afternoon? You see, I have to go home on my own and, well, it's on the way to your house and I was wondering if maybe you could... Walk me home?"

Shikamaru was surprised by her request.

"Sure," he said, turning back to the conversation he was having with Yuu about coffee prices.

"Oi, Shikamaru." Temari stalked over to him.

"Hn?"

"I can't walk you home today, sorry. My brother's piano rehearsal is on, I wouldn't miss it for the world. Be sure you find someone to walk with, okay?"

"Done. Shiho asked me to walk her home. It's on the way, apparently."

Temari nodded before heading off.

"I'm leaving early. I'll visit you tomorrow. Don't do anything stupid!"

He waved a little, being careful not to lift his hand up too high.

"Bye," he called.

O

As they walked back, Shiho clung annoyingly close to him and bumped off his shoulder a few times, much to Shikamaru's dismay.

He dropped her off at her house, which was only a five minute walk from the club grounds, and walked the last half hour on his own.

He was shocked to find that he didn't just miss Temari's company.

He longed for it.

When he got home, his mother frowned at him.

"Where's Temari?"

"She couldn't walk me home."

Yoshino nodded slowly and led him into the sitting room, where five others were seated.

He looked around and saw Ino, Chouji, his dad, his mother's friend Kurenai and-strangest of all- Asuma, his employer.

"Hi," he said as he walked in, taking a seat between his two best friends.

Kurenai smiled at him.

"I hear you're working for my husband," she grinned, nudging Asuma.

Shikamaru had no idea that the two even knew each other, but he nodded.

Kurenai stood up and knelt down in front of him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Shikamaru, I'm going to put this bluntly, I've heard that your condition has been getting worse, so your mother has kindly asked me to be your carer, I accepted on one condition."

She gave him a serious look before smirking and bringing a hand to her lower abdomen.

"I want you to be my daughter's god father."

So many thoughts were swirling through Shikamaru's head, but he couldn't suppress the smile that was breaking out onto his face.

"I'd love to."

He said, and he looked back up at Asuma, vaguely aware of a smile that was pressed to his lips. Kurenai smiled and stood back up.

"Thank you, I hope we get on well now that we'll be seeing each other more often."

Shikamaru nodded once more before excusing himself and leaving the sitting room to go to his bedroom.

He closed the door behind him and allowed himself to smile genuinely.

It had been so long since he had last felt this happy.

Things were truly looking up.

* * *

 _ **A/N: My internet was down this afternoon so I honestly didn't get to edit this until like, right before my dinner.**_

 _ **I'm not sure if I'll be able to post the next chapter tomorrow, but I'll try.**_

 _ **I'm getting a tattoo (at last)! I'm putting all my faith in my friend's artistic abilities, cos she's tattooing me in her bedroom on Halloween (possibly after a drink or two) so I just hope neither of us mess up with that. Oops o.O.**_

 _ **I won't get around to reviews, because time is tight, but I did read them, so thank you very much for leaving a review! I'll get around to some of them next chapter, I swear!**_

 _ **This chapter was a lil different. Less Shikatema, a bit more on his family/other friends I guess. You're all gonna love the next chapter, I swear. Drama is approaching!**_

 _ **Again, I'm sorry I couldn't get to the reviews-I am emotionally drained.**_

 _ **Thanks for all the support so far, my little fireflies!**_

 _ **please follow/fave/review!**_

 _ **~Lee**_


	13. Chapter 13 Collapse

_**Collapse**_

"Hey, how are you?"

"Good," he smiled. "A little dizzy, but I'm okay."

Temari pulled a chair over and sat down beside him.

"You look tired." She observed.

"I _feel_ tired."

She nodded slowly and propped her elbows up on the kitchen table.

"How did the check up go?"

"Look, can we _not_ talk about this please?"

"Woah, _sorry._ I was just wondering. I'm allowed to be curious about my ill friend, am I not?"

"Yeah, but that's _all_ we ever talk about."

"That's not true." Temari snapped, standing back up. "Just because you're dying, it doesn't mean I'll put up with you being a total prick to me."

She turned to leave, but Shikamaru forced himself into a standing position and held onto her wrist.

"Have you ever considered that maybe I'm a prick _without_ the disease? I'm more than just my illness, Temari. Stop being such a drama queen about everything!"

She stared at him.

" _I'm_ the drama queen?!" She yelled. " _Listen_ to yourself, Shikamaru! I was only asking you how you were!"

He glared at her.

"Why do you even care? You just want a funeral to cry at so others pity you."

Her eyes instantly darkened.

She stepped up close to him and hissed at him under her breath.

"Nara, I told you that I wouldn't treat you any differently because of your disease, but I take that back. If you weren't in your current state, I would punch you so fucking hard you'd be knocked out, but since you're so fucking _weak,_ I know it would kill you. You aren't worth the prison sentence." She took a deep breath before continuing, not breaking eye contact with him. "I don't cry. Got that? I didn't cry at my mom's funeral. I didn't cry at my dad's funeral, and I certainly won't cry at yours. If I bother showing up. Crying is for the weak."

He felt the tears come to his eyes but didn't let himself blink the stinging away.

"You should go," he growled.

"I should, shouldn't I?"

He felt his tears fall from his eyes and trail down his cheek. He was too proud to wipe them away.

He was about to answer her when she spoke up again.

"But I know that the moment I leave this house, I won't let myself come back."

He didn't know what to say.

"And I know you don't mean half of what you just said."

"Stop," he murmured.

"And even if you did, I'd forgive you."

She was closer than she'd ever been before.

"Temari..."

"And I'm not leaving before I apologise to you."

"Tem... Stop."

"I'm not apologising until you admit you're in the wrong for overreacting."

"Stop it."

Her nose was almost brushing his now and she finally blinked before wiping away one of his tears.

"Make me, crybaby."

As easy as that.

He closed the distance between them and felt her press in closer to him, wrapping her arms across his back as he held her waist.

His lips collided with hers, a little harder than he'd intended, and they were kissing.

He was shocked that she wasn't stopping him.

She was actually kissing him back, hungrily deepening the kiss.

He had to sit back down, his legs were getting sore, so he scooted back into his chair as Temari sat on the table, angling her face downwards so as not to break the kiss.

They continued like this for a while, occasionally separating for a split second so that he could take a breath of air.

When she opened her mouth slightly, he hastily slid his tongue into her mouth, but she didn't seem to like that he was taking over so she battled him for dominance, and won.

Deciding on a different approach, he brought his hand to the small of her back and slipped his fingers under the end of the loose material of her tank top before slowly inching his fingers higher up her spine. Feeling her shiver at his touch and sigh gently against his lips was all the confirmation he needed to let him know that she was enjoying this as much as he was.

It wasn't until they heard the front door creak open that they broke apart.

His hand was halfway up her ribcage and the other had somehow ended up on her upper thigh.

They quickly moved away from each other. Temari slipped onto her chair and poured herself a cup of tea, sipping at it awkwardly as Yoshino walked in with an armful of shopping.

"Hello Temari, how are you?"

Temari tried to hold back a wide grin but failed.

"I'm great," she laughed.

Yoshino turned her attention to Shikamaru.

"Shika! You're all red... Were you crying?"

Temari suppressed a giggle and shook her head.

"I was just telling him a funny story, we both laughed a bit too hard. Don't worry."

Yoshino nodded slowly and Temari stood up to help her put away the shopping, occasionally glancing back at Shikamaru with a knowing smile.

One which he gladly returned.

* * *

 _ **A/N: Bonjour and happy Halloween!**_

 _ **I have to take my brother out trick-or-treating now, so imma just post this now.**_

 _ **I actually got around to editing this today, but good god my day was hectic! I have a LOT of midterm homework and loads of exams coming up next week, I also got a tattoo and I gave my sister a perm for her costume. I managed to burn my finger tips, so I currently have no goddamn finger prints on my left hand.**_

 _ **So yeah, fairly busy.**_

 _ **I guess I was just waaaay too excited to post this chapter. :)**_

 _ **I never got around to the reviews from chapter 11, so imma go to those now too!**_

 _ **ohud63~ an adorable review, as always ;) thank you, you're so nice!**_

 _ **Guest101~ awww thank you! Don't cry! That's Shika's job ;)**_

 _ **whattadragg~ aaahhhh, I always get so excited when I see your name before a review. Is that bad? Also, maybe this fic will End both bad AND good o.O no, they aren't married yet... Yet... YET!**_

 _ **SilverMoon6817~ yeah! I love the sneaky lil Shiho moments in the manga, and I feel as though people usually make Tayuya have a crush on Shika in AUs and it just doesn't make much sense? Shiho is a perfectly good character guys!**_

Also, two of you asked about the tatt, and to answer your question, it's three dots in the shape of a triangle. In mathematical statements, it can mean "Therefore" if the point is turned up, and " because" if it's pointing down. I love it, I just didn't want to go for anything too complicated cos it was a stick and poke. We literally just used vodka to disinfect-it wasn't professional! My friend got a kanji though, it looked great, considering none of us are tattoo artists.

 _ **Aaanyways, please follow/ fave/ review!**_

 _~Lee_


	14. Chapter 14 Four Words

_**Four Words**_

If Ino hadn't said those four words to him, he wouldn't have been standing on Temari's doorstep.

He was about to turn away when Ino's words played back in his mind.

"You've nothing to lose."

And she was right. He had nothing to lose.

Except his friendship with Temari, his will to live and pretty much everything that kept him sane and happy.

He pushed his negativity aside for what was easily the tenth time that minute and knocked on the door.

He counted ten beats before he panicked, a million thoughts ran through his head at such a high speed that they were probably running into one another and killing themselves before he got a chance to process them properly.

 _What if this wasn't her house?_

 _What if she was away?_

 _What would happen if he forgot what he was here for and she laughed at him?_

 _What if-_

"Who the hell are _you_?"

He looked up to see what could only be described as a pair of emos.

One of them wore a black hoodie with two pointed corners pulled over his head, a sliver of painted face was slightly visible underneath it.

The second had bright red hair (no, not ginger, RED) and dark eyeliner coating his eyelids.

" _Well_?" The hooded one asked again.

Her knew it, he'd gotten the wrong address.

"Kankurō, don't speak like that to strangers." The red head said softly

Kankurō - he remembered that name from when Temari had phoned her brothers the first time she came to his house!

"Hi," he said after clearing his throat. "my name is Shikamaru, I was wondering if Temari was here."

"Oh, so _you're_ the guy she's been ditching us for. We meet at last..." The hooded boy lifted his head slightly to get a better look at Shikamaru.

After sizing him up for a moment, he shrugged and called over his shoulder.

"TEMATO! SOMEONE'S AT THE DOOR FOR YOU!"

"KANNELONI IF YOU CALL ME THAT ONE MORE TIME I SWEAR!"

Temari hopped down the stairs and looked at Shikamaru for a split second before breaking into a smile.

"Hey," she said as she walked up to him and pulled him into a hug.

"Ew, _gross_ ," Kankurō grimaced.

The second brother nudged him. "We should go..."

"Shut up, Gaarlic."

The red head frowned.

"Why must you two act so immature?" He asked, rolling his eyes and going up the stairs, dragging the hooded boy behind him.

"What's up?" Temari asked as she pulled away from him.

"Are your brothers always like that?" He asked incredulously.

"Yup!" She beamed proudly in the direction they'd gone in.

Shikamaru nodded before looking at her straight in the eye.

He had nothing to lose, he reminded himself.

He clung to those four words as he spoke.

"Temari, will you be my girlfriend?"

Her smile faltered and was replaced by a look of shock

before she smiled again, even wider.

She answered with four more words.

"Of course I will."

* * *

 _ **A/N: Aaah, siblings.**_

 _ **I'm both happy and sad to inform you that there are only three more chapters after this! (unless y'all want an epilogue)**_

 _ **I just based the sibling bants in this chapter off of genuine conversations I have with my sister-I'm the Kankurō of the family, even though I act more like Temari, constantly taking care of my two idiot siblings. Oh well...**_

 _ **I wasn't going to originally put this chapter in but I got an urge to write this after someone I hooked up with ONCE was convinced we were dating. I mean, dude. It was just a kiss-get over it. So yeah, now that that's settled, they are dating *officially* ;)**_

 _ **And now ***drumrolllllllll*** the reviews:**_

 _ **whattadragg~ haha, I can sense the excitement through the screen XD! I'm glad you like!**_

 _ **SilverMoon6817~thankyou bean! Don't be nervous! All will be revealed in probably three days time! It's almost over, you can do it!**_

 _ **ohud63~ heehee, hope I didn't disappoint ;) more indeed, I hope you like, m'dear!**_

 _ **Righteo, y'all know the drill, fireflies. See you tomorrow!**_

 _ **Please follow / fave / review!**_

 _ **~Lee**_


	15. Chapter 15 Cloud Nine

_**Cloud Nine**_

"You kept your promise!" Temari looked happier than he'd ever seen her before.

"Of course I did."

They clambered onto the minibus and sat down side-by-side.

Temari had been training so hard for the finals, Shikamaru knew he couldn't miss it, even if he wanted to. Which he didn't.

Throughout the two hour bus ride, Shikamaru fell asleep twice and was woken up as the coach drove over bumps too quickly.

His legs had been hurting him a lot more recently, but he didn't want to let that get him down.

When they arrived at the stadium, he sat with Iruka and Gai in the stands.

Asuma was on paternal leave and hadn't shown up to work in the last week as he was looking after Kurenai and his new born daughter, Mirai.

When the team left the changing rooms, Temari looked up at Shikamaru and waved at him happily.

She got through the first four sports without a hitch, and during the half hour pause, she sat with Shikamaru for a few moments before giving him a swift kiss while no one was looking.

She stood up and left the stands to warm up again and she was excitedly bouncing on the balls of her feet.

At the one hundred metre sprint, she came first and looked delighted with herself.

As she got into position for the second sprint, Shikamaru stood up shakily and cheered her name, she glanced over to him and gave him a brief wink before turning her whole attention to the track in front of her.

Tayuya was by her side as the second representative as Teru couldn't make it.

When the starting pistol was fired, she sprinted forward. In just over thirty seconds, she had crossed the finish line, the ribbon tore as she reached it, a look of pure joy on her face, she began slowing her pace down to avoid injuring herself with a sudden stop.

When she glanced up at Shikamaru for a second, Tayuya sprinted ahead of her and she stumbled in an attempt to not collide with the red head, who had stuck her leg out.

Temari tripped and landed awkwardly on the gravel track. She jumped back up to her feet and dusted off her shorts and shirt, glaring at Tayuya.

She had blood dripping from her nose and her knees were scratched.

She spat a mouthful of blood at Tayuya's feet before turning her back to the red head and walking away from her.

She went up to the stand where Shikamaru was seated and slumped onto the seat.

"I want to kill the bitch." She grumbled.

Shikamaru ignored the blood on her face and held the blonde girl tightly.

"Well done Tem, you did it," he smiled into her neck and brushed his lips against her collarbone. "I'm proud of you."

He felt her relax into his arms and hug him bag.

"Thanks," she murmured into his ear.

She stood up to prepare for the award presentation. As team captain, she was representing the entire Konoha Ath Club during the ceremony.

Before she could leave, he handed her a cloth to wipe the blood off her face with.

After she collected the gold medals for the each category, she received a trophy, recognising the team as the over all winner.

She beamed at him the whole time, he felt like a winner.

She was on cloud nine, and he was right there with her.

 _ **A/N: Uwah, again, I encountered some difficulties with getting the editing done, so I didn't get around to the reviews, sorry!**_

 _ **I've had a crazy day and I am so so so tired, I'll get to the reviews next chapter, I swear.**_

 _ **I was meant to go to a cast party for a show that I did the lighting for, but I'm too tired so no way am I going.**_

 _ **Aaaanyways,thank you for reading and supporting this fic, it means a lot and it seriously helps me get through the shitstorm that is my life.**_

 ** _Only two more chapters!_**

 ** _Please follow/fave/review_**

 ** _~Lee_**


	16. Chapter 16 Momentum

_**Momentum**_

A/N This is just a handful of short pieces in no particular order.

"Temari. It isn't working out."

"You're right," she gazed into his eyes and snatched the sheet from his hands as she moved away from him.

"We could always -"

"I don't want to hear it, Shikamaru."

She turned her back to him and reached for the door handle.

"Temari, listen!"

"What?!"

Shikamaru sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Nevermind, go ahead."

She made a "hmph" noise before turning back to the door, with a page in one hand and a glass in the other.

In one sudden move, she slammed the glass on top of the spider and slipped the page under it, trapping the little beast.

She smiled triumphantly at her boyfriend.

"See?!"

"I stand corrected."

She smirked at him before making her way towards the window and tossing the arachnid out.

"All done," she leaned forward over him and gave him a teasing smile.

"The next time a wickle spidew scawes you, you know who to caww," she laughed, giving him a swift kiss before opening the door and leaving his bedroom.

"I'm making tea, do you want some?"

O

Her legs were dangling off the arm of the sofa as she lay across it, with her head resting in Shikamaru's lap.

"Hey, give me a fact."

"The sky is blue."

She glared at him.

"Something less obvious please. You're meant to be a genius. Surprise me."

"Seaweed isn't a plant."

She frowned for a split second before looking confused.

"Are you _sure_?"

"Yes."

"Give me another fact."

"Humans are more closely related to mould than they are to flowers."

"That's just sad."

"Hnn..."

"Tell me more."

"Um... I can't think of any facts. You tell me something."

She wrinkled her nose as she thought of what to say.

"Eh... All Beer caps have exactly 21 grooves."

"Drunkard,"

"A group of seals is called a harem."

"Perv,"

"Life is futile,"

"Pesimist."

"You're a bitch."

"Liar,"

She glared at him.

"You _are_." She stated simply. "But I can handle it."

"I thought of another fact," Shikamaru said through a yawn.

"Oh? And what might that be?"

"Butterflies taste through their feet."

"I knew that already."

"The discovery of penicillin was an accident."

"Isn't that nice."

"Also, I love you."

She paused for a beat.

"Tell me something I don't already know."

"I'm pregnant," he smirked.

Temari rolled her eyes.

"I'm sure you are."

"It's yours," he laughed.

"Lets hope it takes after _me_ then, for its own sake," she snickered. "Can you pass on a message?"

He nodded, placing a hand on his belly as he chuckled.

"Tell our baby that its dad is bearable."

"Is that your own way of saying 'I love you'?"

She smiled.

"Maybe."

O

"We should break up."

The words came out of his mouth and settled themselves down on the kitchen table between himself and Temari.

The atmosphere sank.

He had decided to do this. He had to, it wasn't fair on her to be such a burden on her existence.

She stared blankly at him.

"I know that you-"

"Shikamaru."

He looked at her. She was smiling.

"You love me, you can't break up with me."

She was laughing now as she stood up and made her way over to his side of the table.

She kissed him gently as he ran his fingers through her hair.

As they pulled apart, she chuckled into his ear.

"You'll have to try harder than that to get rid of me, crybaby. I'm not leaving you."

O

"SHIKAAAA! TEMARIIIIIIIII!"

"Hey Ino,"

"Sup."

The platinum blonde gave them a devilish grin before wiggling her thin eyebrows at them.

"Soooo, are you two dating?"

Shikamaru opened his mouth to contradict her, but Temari spoke first.

"Yup," she said simply.

Ino's jaw dropped.

"I-y-you... OHMYGOD! SHIKA, I'M SO HAPPY FOR YOU!"

She turned her attention back to Temari and put a hand on her shoulder.

"If he pisses you off, just blackmail him. I have baby pictures if you'd like..."

In spite of desperate protests, Shikamaru was left to sulk in the kitchen as he listened to Temari and Ino cackle over pictures of a small Shikamaru dressed as a deer.

Temari kept several.

O

"What do you like about me?"

"Why do you ask?"

"I'm just...curious."

Temari sighed and lowered the book she was reading.

"I can wait," he said. "If you need to think about it. I can wait."

"Shikamaru, recite the numbers of Pi."

"Three point one four one five nine two six fiv-"

"Okay stop. What is a vector quantity?"

"A quantative measure that takes both magnitude and direction into account."

She nodded and looked at him again.

"Why do humans sweat?"

"It's a form of excretion, removing waste products from the body."

"What is the country with the lowest population density?"

"Greenland, I believe."

"And what does ATM stand for?"

"Automated teller machine-everyone knows that, Tem."

"Why do I love you?"

"My personality, my brains and-" he stopped talking when he saw a wide smirk on her face.

"I-H-How?!" He spluttered. "How did you do that?!"

She laughed at his reaction.

"You're far too predictable, but look, you answered your own question."

"No I didn't."

"Yes, you did."

"Nope, I asked what you liked about me. You asked why you love me. Sorry Temari, but I'm the winner here."

It was his turn to smile as she blushed.

"Whatever, lazy-ass."

She grumbled, turning back to her book.

"Do you know why I love you, Temari?"

"Honestly, I wonder."

"You're troublesome. I never thought I could survive a hurricane, but I'm literally dating one, so loving you just proves fate wrong."

She laughed.

"How romantic, I'm swooning." She said in monotone.

"It isn't like we're big on romance either."

She shrugged.

"Fair enough, but be careful, I might develop standards if you don't treat me right."

He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer so that she was leaning against his chest with her head resting on his shoulder.

"I'm sure," he said, smiling as she brought her hand to his arm, drawing small patterns with her finger tip.

"Hnn, better watch out, Mr. Nara."

She was writing numbers now.

And the alphabet.

And the Greek alphabet. She paused at theta.

"Is that really the only reason?"

She started writing again when he didn't answer.

It wasn't until she was on mathematical formulae that he answered.

"Maybe it's your smile."

She said nothing, and began writing Pythagoras' theorem he knew she didn't believe him.

He loved her for so much more than he could describe.

It was more than just her brain her heart or her smile.

He didn't even know if he knew what made him love her so much.

It was so much more than anything.

But all he knew was that in that moment, he loved her, and she loved him.

The world was truly beautiful.

O

To say he liked her would be an understatement.

He loved her, if love were such a thing.

The way she was simply there for him.

He of course understood the immeasurable amount of trouble that came with spending time with her, but thinking of that was too troublesome, so instead, he stuck to his original thought:

She was simply there for him.

She caused no harm, did him no wrong.

She was a saviour in his troubled world.

As he lay in the park that Monday, hands behind his head, eyes fixed on the glorious clouds above, mind set on her, the group of runners passed.

They were his only interruption from his daily cloud-gazing session.

He smiled and waved at them as they passed, the girl leading the group of twenty called a few words over her shoulder to the others in the group before turning and running up the small hill to greet him.

"I knew you liked the clouds, but I didn't think you'd be here every Monday."

She smirked, seating herself down beside him and looking at his face with a quizzical expression before lying down so that they were shoulder to shoulder.

She brought her eyes up to the clouds and watched them drift peacefully overhead.

He laced his fingers through hers and no more words were exchanged as they gazed up at the clouds.

Together, they watched them be.

* * *

 _ **A/N: Only one chapter left :( I'll be sad to let this story go I must say...**_

 _ **Which was your favourite? I'm not sure if Temari was a little ooc at parts...**_

 _ **As promised, I'll go through the reviews from the chapter before last.**_

 _ **whattadragg~ yeah, sibling conversations are the strangest things I've ever witnessed tbh. And Temari killing Tayuya would literally be the most tempting thing ever. O.o**_

 _ **SilverMoon6817~ Gaara the garlic clove, it makes him far more endearing! I don't really want it to end either, but I don't want to drag it out in case it loses its charm. Tayuya is a total brat.**_

 _ **a01(guest)~ I may put one in then ;)**_

 _ **Okie, please let me know what you think! I hope you guys have all enjoyed the story so far, please remember to follow/fave/review!**_

 _ **The last chapter is being posted tomorrow!**_

 _ **Thank you all sososososo much for all the support so far through reviews/faves/PMs etc. I honestly cannot explain how glad I am that all of you exist thankyouthankyouthankyou you little fireflies, we're almost there :)**_

 _ **~Lee :)**_


	17. Chapter 17 Forever and Always

_**Forever and Always**_

 _ **Limerence: (n) the state of being completely infatuated with someone.**_

It would be inaccurate to call Nara Shikamaru's life a success, but considering his circumstances, it was better than he could ever have dared dream for.

His legs had become insubordinate, and he was in a wheelchair at twenty.

The Athletics Club installed a wheelchair ramp, as Asuma insisted that his inability to walk wasn't a valid enough excuse to quit his job.

Mirai was crawling around and visited Shikamaru with her mother everyday.

Much to Kurenai's dismay, her daughter's first words were "troublesome" and "Ugh".

Ino and Chouji took time out of their days to visit their childhood friend, Ino even went to the effort of learning chess for him. She wasn't great, but it was the thought that counted. Chouji would regularly ask Shikamaru for his opinion on new recipes he was experimenting with.

Yoshino quit her job as a hotel receptionist to stay with her son at home as his condition worsened, and Shikaku was given longer breaks in his own job, most of the time he was given was spent playing chess with his only child.

And Temari was Temari.

She walked him home everyday after work and often stayed the night.

She never complained, and neither did he.

On their one year anniversary, she brought him up to his favourite hill.

They had a picnic and watched clouds pass.

He looked at her as she took out little devilled eggs that Yoshino had prepared in advance.

"Temari, I never thought I'd say this to a woman, but I truly believe that I've found my weakness, and it's you."

She slowly raised her head to look at him.

"Take it back." She snapped.

"Wha-Why?" Shikamaru had thought that saying that was a compliment, he'd certainly meant it that way.

"Shikamaru. I don't want to be your weakness." She said, not taking her eyes off of his.

"I want to be your _strength_. I want you to feel invincible when you're with me, like you're ten feet tall. I want to give you power and joy. Not weakness. I don't want to tear you down. I'm not someone for you to aspire to be, don't live your life staring at my back, and don't lean on me.

"Shikamaru, I want you to see me as your strength. I want you to stand _with_ me, forever and always."

He smiled at her troublesome words and nodded.

"You _are_ my strength, troublesome woman."

"That's better."

She put food on a paper plate for him and poured him some juice into a plastic cup, handing them all over to him on a tray.

It was nice to be out of the chair, seated in the grass on a blanket with a beautifully troublesome woman by his side.

After eating, he lay his head down in her lap as she played with his hair, twirling strands between her fingers and braiding small sections.

They spoke and fell silent and spoke again, enjoying their anniversary.

They knew that they would not have another one.

"You're my strength too, Shika." She said softly after a while. "You always will be."

She leaned down and gently placed a kiss on his lips.

"And I'll stand with you forever."

"Forever and always." He smirked.

"Yeah, forever and always."

He held out his hand and they shook on it before lying down side by side and watching each other instead of the clouds.

He gazed into her teal eyes and couldn't help but smile at the fact that he knew that this woman loved him as much as he loved her.

He was aware that he wouldn't be seeing her for much longer, but that just meant he'd have to make the most of the time he _did_ have with her.

He took her into his arms and held her as tightly as he could manage.

"Forever and always, my troublesome woman."

And she didn't have to tell him that she loved him, but she did anyways, and that made all the difference in his wonderful world.

Because really, it _was_ a wonderful world.

Especially when she was by his side to share it with.

Especially since she had him, and he had her.

And that was joy enough to last a million lifetimes.

And that was enough for him.

He would love her forever and always.

 _The End_

* * *

 ** _A/N: aaaaahhhhhh I got kinda anxious before posting this. Idk how I did, but yeah! We did it!_**

 ** _I really hope you guys liked this, I poured my heart and soul into this story, and I'll hopefully write a few more stories in this style at a later point, but I hope to focus on my other stories for a while._**

 ** _I just want to say thank you sososo much for all the support that everyone gave to me during this by PMs, reviewing/ following and favouriting it._**

 ** _I probably sound like someone accepting an Academy Award rn, but really, I wouldn't have kept on posting if y'all didn't let me know you liked it._**

 ** _I just really hope I didn't rush the ending. *nervous laughter*_**

 ** _Please let me know what you think, and if you'd like an epilogue o.O._**

 ** _Again, thankyouthankyouthankyou!_**

 ** _Follow/fave/review etc. If you'd like! Which you do!_**

 ** _~Lee ;)_**


	18. Epilogue

_Dear lazy ass._

 _Hi. How are you?_

 _The clouds are nice today. Well, I'm not sure what constitutes as nice by your standards, but they look like clouds, so I guess that's as far as my limited expertise in this topic will allow me to judge._

 _I saw Ino this morning, she's holding up well. Her boyfriend (or girlfriend?) Sai is quite nice, I met them briefly. It just kinda irks me that they're so... Pretty? I can't tell what gender they are. But yeah, they're good at drawing too I suppose._

 _Chouji dropped by with a cake this afternoon. He's so lovely, I'm glad to have made friends through you, really._

 _I guess I'm kind of tiptoeing around why I'm writing to you ( again)._

 _I should probably say it, I've always been good at being blunt about things, but now I'm... Dull. I'm not blunt, or sharp. I can't even sugarcoat goddammit. _

_I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm more than just a little broken._

 _And there are three words which I've never spoken in my life, and I never plan on saying them._

 _So I'll write them and give them to you, but if you tell anyone, I swear I'll... Kill... You._

 _Well, I can't really do that, can I?_

 _That would require reanimation, and I don't know about you, but watching Fullmetal Alchemist has definitely convinced me that that would not be a good idea at all._

 _I'm getting sidetracked again._

 _Fuck it._

 _Shikamaru, I miss you._

 _I miss you goddammit, and I know that bottling up my feelings won't bring you back, but neither would crying._

 _I'm so fucking torn, I don't know what to do about it._

 _Nothing I do helps, and I hate feeling this way._

 _It's terrible._

 _Have you ever had those moments when you look up and it almost seems as though someone set fire to the horizon, and the flames are coming toward you, but when you turn to run, it's like the edge of the world is at your heels?_

 _Probably not._

 _But that's the best way I can explain it._

 _I don't know if I want to fall into the pits of tearful depression or let my bottled-up feelings burn me._

 _I guess I just need to find a good parachute._

 _Or maybe a fire extinguisher._

 _Either way, I'm not doing great._

 _In fact, I'm not doing well at all. I would never say this out loud in person to anyone, but you're not just anyone._

 _I'd say I should wrap this up._

 _I know I've been writing a lot but I guess these letters have kind of served as my parachutes._

 _Well, I'm gonna go. I know you said to move on, but please be patient._

 _Please wait for me to be ready to let you go, because this is the hardest thing I've ever been forced to do._

 _At one point, I wished that I'd never met you, but you are the most amazing thing I ever had the misfortune to befriend, and forgetting about you would be... To put it simply, I'd rather die than forget you._

 _Us._

 _I broke Tayuya's nose once. I was sent to Asuma and he asked me what I'd do if I could go back in time._

 _I said that wish I hadn't hurt her, but in my head I was thinking that if I could do it again, I'd land another damn punch._

 _The same logic applies to us._

 _If I could do is again, I'd make more mistakes. I wouldn't be so scared of falling._

 _I wish I'd acted sooner._

 _But it's too late now._

 _I have training to go to. The new admin is nice, I don't know her very well though._

 _I would say that this is the last letter I'm writing for you, but that would probably not be the truth, so instead... I'll just say see you later._

 _See you later Shikamaru, I'll get over you, I swear, but for now, you'll just have to wait._

 _I'm not that easy to get rid of._

 _See ya,_

 _Your super awesome hot girlfriend._

 _P.S. You were right, seaweed isn't a plant, but I've thought of another fact for you: Sabaku no Temari only cried once in her life, but you weren't there to see it._

 _P.P.S. She doesn't resent you for it, but you should have been there to comfort her._

 _P.P.P.S. The previous post-script was a weak attempt at humour._

 _P.P.P.P.S. I'll write again tomorrow._

 _P.P.P.P.P.S. Please wait just a little longer for me._

 _-Tem_

* * *

 _ **A/N. Okie, a few of you guys asked for an epilogue, and this is honestly the best I can do for y'all at this moment in time. Again, thank you for all the support ;)**_

~Lee


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